The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Mrs Georgina Ehuriah, says the ministry is building a database of all statutory marriages conducted in Nigeria.
Ehuriah announced this on Wednesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ conference on “Conduct of Statutory Marriage’’.
The theme of the conference is “Achieving Harmonious Compliance in the Conduct of Statutory Marriage in Nigeria”.
The permanent secretary said that the ministry had developed database for all places of worship licensed for celebration of marriages.
”This has enabled the ministry to be in a good position to respond to enquiries from various interested parties from within and outside the country,” she said.
According to her, the documentation processes for licensing places of worship have been automated to facilitate submission of application for licenses by interested places of worship.
“Let me at this point stress the need for strict compliance with the requirements as specified in the Act by applicants, as applications that do not satisfy the law will not be approved.
“Accordingly, administrators of places of worship are encouraged to satisfy these requirements in order to better serve their members,” she said.
Ehuriah also stressed that the conduct of statutory marriage in accordance with the law was of great interest to government, adding that marriage was the bedrock of families.
A Resource Person, Mrs Ifeoma Ononye, Civil Litigation Department, Nigerian Law School Abuja, in a paper, said that marriage under the Act was under the exclusive list of the 1999 Constitution.
The paper was tilted “Conduct of Statutory Marriage in Accordance with the Marriage Act Cap 218, Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Ononye said that the government had right to handle statutory marriages, adding that certain requirements were needed before a marriage under the Act could be contracted.
She said that the union must be willingly entered into and not by duress and that union between a man and woman through blood relations was prohibited.
The Ministry of Interior is statutorily responsible for the administration of marriage registries and licensing of places of worship for celebration of marriages.
It is also responsible in ensuring that statutory marriages were conducted in accordance with the Marriage Act 1990, Cap 218, LFN as elaborated in the Marriage Act Cap M6, LFN 2004 as amended.
Representatives of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) were among participants at the event.
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